


Leaving

by imagineagreatadventure



Series: My JB Appreciation Week 2015 Fics [5]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Jaime/Brienne Appreciation Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-09
Updated: 2015-10-09
Packaged: 2018-04-25 13:03:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4961641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imagineagreatadventure/pseuds/imagineagreatadventure
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Brienne doesn't know how to take Jaime's most recent news. </p><p>JB Week Day 5: Black</p>
            </blockquote>





	Leaving

The water around Tarth looked anything but blue tonight. It could not be called the Sapphire Isle now, the water looked as if it was filled with ink from the ironborn's kraken. 

Even the lights glittering from Brienne’s childhood home did nothing but contrast the black water with the opalescent light, showcasing how dark the water truly was. 

Brienne sighed and dug her feet in the sand a little longer. It was almost cold to touch and Brienne almost wished she had worn something warmer than shorts and a light sweater. Her flip-flops sat beside her and she resisted a strange urge to throw them in the dark waves. 

It was low-tide now and so the water was meters and meters away but still it wouldn’t have been hard for Brienne to chuck the shoes into them. Brienne’s arm was strong enough to throw a football and so it wouldn’t have been hard to throw something as simple and lightweight as a pair of flip-flops.

It was _his_ fault that she was even thinking about doing something as foolish as throwing away a pair of flip-flops. It was the only thing she could think of doing right now, just throwing something, hitting something, kicking something. Brienne was just so angry that all she could think of doing was something physically violent to lift her black mood. 

He left her. 

He left Cersei.

For Brienne.

Who in their right mind would leave someone as beautiful and fashionable and perfect as Cersei?

Brienne was not beautiful and her idea of fashion was what she was wearing right now, a long white sweater that almost covered her jean shorts. 

And, of course, her stupid flip-flops.

Jaime said he didn’t care about that though. Not that Brienne believed him. Why would she? 

He was inside with her dad now, probably persuading her father not to shoot him after he busted into the beach house with a smile. Brienne had never been more surprised to see him, she told him to go back to Cersei when he asked her for advice. She told him to be with the person he loved. 

That was Cersei.

Wasn’t it?

Could you love more than one person?

_In that way?_

“Brienne?” A hand moved her flip-flops closer to her side. Jaime sat down next to her in the sand, some of it shifting onto her bare feet. She couldn’t see his face in the darkness, his features were shadows. “May I sit here?”

Brienne huffed. “You already have.”

Jaime snorted. “Point taken.” He was quiet for less than a second before jumping into another thought, “Your father didn’t kill me.”

“Yet.”

“I think he was allowing you to do the honors.”

Brienne rolled her eyes.

“Ah, there’s that famous eye roll. I missed it after all your moping.”

As if he didn’t mope half the time. “Jaime, why are you here? Did Cersei reject you?”

Jaime’s hand was suddenly on her bare thigh. His fingers were so warm compared to the sand. Callused and rough where the sand was almost felt like silk. “Do you really think you’re a second prize?” he asked, his voice low and dark and warm. It reminded her of the sound of the waves, only meters away, ready to sweep her away into something unknowable. 

“I don’t think I’m a prize at all,” Brienne retorted, trying not to show how flustered she was. “I’m a human being.”

She wished she could see his expression. But all she could see was black. Not even the lights hanging from her home could reach his face. Not even light of the moon or the stars were allowed in this darkness.

That is why she wasn’t able to avoid his fumbling attempt to kiss her. He couldn’t see her either, so instead of pressing his mouth on hers, he kissed her nose instead. 

Brienne couldn’t help it. She laughed. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to kiss you,” he said, a strange tone imbued in it that made heat pool in her lower abdomen. “Apparently it gets dark out here on Tarth.”

“Stop it,” she scolded. “You can’t kiss me.”

“Why not?”

Brienne exhaled, exhausted. “You’re with Cersei.”

“I’m not with her.”

“Well, you should be.”

“Why?”

“You love her.” Wasn’t that all you needed?

He nodded and Brienne felt her heart break. “I do.” His next words wove her heart back together, “But I love you more.”

“How can you?” Brienne asked, trying not to show her face to him. She half-debated about entering the cold waves just to get away from him and her own feelings. “She’s your reflection.”

“How boring would it be if we only were with people like ourselves.” 

“That doesn’t make sense.”

She felt his shoulders shrug and realized he had moved closer to her. “Does it have to? I choose to be with you. Isn’t that what matters?”

Brienne turned to him wishing she could see what his green eyes were telling her. She could normally read him like a book, but all she could see was black. His pupils had taken over his eyes as he gazed at her. Only now could she see the outline of his jaw and without meaning to, she caressed the bridge of his nose.

His mouth was on hers and all she could feel was him and the sand. All she could hear was his breathing and her own gasps and the waves pounding harder and harder into the sand.

“I think the tide is rising soon,” she said when he let go of her for a short moment, just so he could press his nose and lips into her neck. 

He bit her neck in response and she curled her fingers into his hair, not even knowing when she had placed her hands into his mane. “Jaime,” Brienne muttered, “My father will kill you if he finds us like this.”

His breath was warm against her ear. “Worth it,” he said, before tagging her earlobe into his mouth and sucking it.

“Jaime,” she sighed, feeling foolish as she did so. Brienne pushed him off her. “We can’t date each other.”

“Why not?”

“You don’t love me. You see me as the antithesis of Cersei. I’m a rebound.” Brienne had rehearsed this speech in front of a mirror once. She had never thought she’d have to use this — she never thought her hopes would become reality. That her dark daydreams would become _this._

He laughed. “You and Cersei are actually alike in many ways even if you don’t see it. She’d hate the comparison too,” he added, almost as an afterthought. 

“Then why are you coming to me if I’m so like her?”

“Because you’re you,” he said, his voice all low and dark again. “And I love you more than I ever imagined I could love a person. Yes… even Cersei. And you don't choose who you love, or how much you love them, Brienne. You only choose who to be with.”

Brienne swallowed her fear. His words were almost comforting. Like a light in the darkness. “Could… could we take this slow?”

Jaime’s hand clucked her under the chin. “Do you mean I can’t ask your father permission to marry you yet?”

“That’s not funny,” Brienne snapped.

“You’re right it’s not. It’s completely archaic and misogynistic. I only need your permission after all. Will you marry me?”

Brienne was suddenly grateful for how dark it was — Jaime couldn’t see her face flame up. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I’ll always be ridiculous, you know this. You love me after all.”

“Jaime, this isn’t slow.”

“We’ll take it as slow as you need, my wench.”

“Then stop trying to take off my bra,” Brienne snapped, pushing his hand away from under her shirt. If she wasn’t so afraid, she’d let him do whatever he wanted. And that was dangerous. 

He was dangerous.

His teeth gleamed in the darkness. “You’re so bossy. I like it.”

“I’m not bossy.”

“Just stubborn then, but don’t worry, so am I,” Jaime said before kissing her once more. 

Brienne really hoped her father wasn't watching from one of the windows. Or if he was, she hoped the darkness obliterated all visuals because she was kissing Jaime back with more vigor than was entirely appropriate. 


End file.
